Revised 3-16-05
2004-2005 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
U.S. Department of Education
Cover Sheet Type of School: ___ Elementary ___ Middle ___ High ___ K-12
Name of Principal
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other) (As it should appear in the official records)
Official School Name
(As it should appear in the official records)
School Mailing Address______
(If address is P.O. Box, also include street address)
______
City State Zip Code+4 (9 digits total)
County ______School Code Number*______
Telephone ______Fax ______
Website/URL______E-mail ______
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date______
(Principal’s Signature)
Name of Superintendent* ______
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
District NameTel. ______
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date______(Superintendent’s Signature)
Name of School Board
President/Chairperson
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
I have reviewed the information in this package, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date______
(School Board President’s/Chairperson’s Signature)
PART I ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATION
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school's eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
- The school has some configuration that includes grades K-12. (Schools with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
- The school has not been in school improvement status or been identified by the state as "persistently dangerous" within the last two years. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s adequate yearly progress requirement in the 2004-2005 school year.
- If the school includes grades 7 or higher, it has foreign language as a part of its core curriculum.
- The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 1999 and has not received the 2003 or 2004 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools Award.
- The nominated school or district is not refusing the OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a districtwide compliance review.
- The OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if the OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
- The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school, or the school district as a whole, has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution's equal protection clause.
- There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
All data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 12 not applicable to private schools)
1.Number of schools in the district: _____ Elementary schools
_____ Middle schools
_____ Junior high schools
_____ High schools
_____ Other
_____ TOTAL
2.District Per Pupil Expenditure: ______
Average State Per Pupil Expenditure: ______
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3.Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ ]Urban or large central city
[ ]Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[ x ]Suburban
[ ]Small city or town in a rural area
[ ]Rural
4. Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
If fewer than three years, how long was the previous principal at this school?
5.Number of students as of October 1 enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school only:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalPreK / 7
K / 38 / 28 / 66 / 8
1 / 38 / 46 / 84 / 9
2 / 42 / 42 / 84 / 10
3 / 38 / 34 / 72 / 11
4 / 40 / 51 / 91 / 12
5 / Other
6
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 397
6.Racial/ethnic composition of% White
the students in the school:% Black or African American
% Hispanic or Latino
% Asian/Pacific Islander
% American Indian/Alaskan Native
100% Total
Use only the five standard categories in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of the school.
7.Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: ______%
(This rate should be calculated using the grid below. The answer to (6) is the mobility rate.)
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 13(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 4
(3) / Subtotal of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)] / 17
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1. / 351
(5) / Subtotal in row (3) divided by total in row (4) / .0484
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100 / 4.84
8.Limited English Proficient students in the school: ______%
______Total Number Limited English Proficient
Number of languages represented: ______
Specify languages: Russian, Tagalog, Other
9.Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: ______%
Total number students who qualify:______
If this method does not produce an accurate estimate of the percentage of students from lowincome families or the school does not participate in the federallysupported lunch program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
10.Students receiving special education services: ______%
______Total Number of Students Served
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
____Autism____Orthopedic Impairment
____Deafness____Other Health Impaired
____Deaf-Blindness____Specific Learning Disability
____Emotional Disturbance____Speech or Language Impairment
____Hearing Impairment____Traumatic Brain Injury
____Mental Retardation____Visual Impairment Including Blindness
____Multiple Disabilities
- Indicate number of fulltime and parttime staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of Staff
Full-timePart-Time
Administrator(s)______
Classroom teachers______
Special resource teachers/specialists______
Paraprofessionals______
Support staff______
Total number______
12.Average school student-“classroom teacher” ratio:______
13.Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. The student dropout rate is defined by the state. The student drop-off rate is the difference between the number of entering students and the number of exiting students from the same cohort. (From the same cohort, subtract the number of exiting students from the number of entering students; divide that number by the number of entering students; multiply by 100 to get the percentage drop-off rate.) Briefly explain in 100 words or fewer any major discrepancy between the dropout rate and the drop-off rate. (Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout rates and only high schools need to supply drop-off rates.)
2003-2004 / 2002-2003 / 2001-2002 / 2000-2001 / 1999-2000Daily student attendance / 97% / 97% / 97% / 97% / 96%
Daily teacher attendance / 97% / 96% / 96% / 97% / 97%
Teacher turnover rate / 10% / 9% / 15% / 6% / 12%
Student dropout rate (middle/high) / N/A% / N/A% / N/A% / N/A% / N/A%
Student drop-off rate (high school) / N/A% / N/A% / N/A% / N/A% / N/A%
PART III SUMMARY
Arthur Road Elementary School is one of four kindergarten through fourth grade elementary schools in the Solon City School District, located in the city of Solon about 30 minutes southeast of Cleveland, Ohio. The school is also home to the district’s Integrated Preschool Program. The school’s total enrollment for students in grades K-4 for the 2004-05 school year is 397 students, who come from diverse backgrounds.
Arthur Road Elementary is known as a warm, welcoming, child-centered school. The school’s vision sets forth the high aspirations students and staff members alike strive to attain:
Arthur Road Elementary School will become a caring community of learners and leaders,
where through emphasis on academic achievement, personal pride and mutual respect, both
students and staff will be encouraged to reach their full potential.
Arthur Road students approach their academic and social education cognizant of the school’s “3R’s:” Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Remember the Golden Rule. Everyone at Arthur Road takes these school expectations seriously and the results are reflected in the respectful and positive school climate that exists.
Once a month, Arthur Road celebrates a school Spirit Day, which begins as two fourth grade students lead the entire student body in reciting the school motto (“Arthur Road is a welcoming and safe place for all learners”) and the school pledge (“We pledge to do our best, to be respectful, responsible and kind to everyone so that we all can grow, have fun and learn from our teachers and from each other”). Both the motto and the pledge reflect the value the school places on a positive learning environment for all students.
Students at Arthur Road have many opportunities to receive recognition for their accomplishments, including the setting and achieving of personal goals through the school’s Star Student Program. Twice a month, each teacher is able to nominate one student from the class to be a Star Student. The Star Students from each grade level have lunch with the principal, who shares with the group the teachers’ specific and descriptive feedback regarding the reasons each student was deserving of the honor.
Similarly, the Arthur Road staff pursues the setting and attainment of personal and professional goals through the development of a strong, collegial Professional Learning Community. Grade level teams meet twice weekly, with one meeting focused on student learning and the other on discussion of curriculum and assessment-related topics. The Solon City Schools places a high priority on staff development, thus the Arthur Road staff is skilled in many facets of education, including differentiated instruction and formative assessment. Teachers use a Standards-Based Report Card, which clearly communicates to parents what their children need to know and be able to do at each grade level and how they are progressing toward those educational benchmarks.
The school’s PTA is strong and keenly involved in many aspects of life at Arthur Road Elementary. Volunteers are present in the classrooms daily as well as spending many hours working on the 32 active Arthur Road committees. Each year in May the staff and student body honor and thank the volunteers with a luncheon and program to demonstrate the value of volunteerism.
Arthur Road Elementary School is a vivid example of the goals of No Child Left Behind in action. Each member of the skilled and dedicated staff believes that all children can and will learn at consistently high levels and embraces the accountability measures that demonstrate student achievement.
PART IV – INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
- The meaning of Arthur Road Elementary School’s assessment results.
Ohio has utilized criterion-referenced “Proficiency” tests in reading since the mid 1990s at the fourth grade level and is now undertaking a change to standards-based “achievement” tests in grades three through eight in reading. The percentage of students in all of the Solon City Schools, including Arthur Road Elementary, that pass these tests, whether proficiency or achievement tests, are reported to parents and the community in the form of District Report Cards issued by the Ohio Department of Education yearly and posted on the department’s web site. Individual student scores reported directly to parents rank students according to performance. In grade four, students are accessed in writing, reading, math, science and citizenship. Third graders are assessed in reading and for 2005 will take a high-stakes math assessment. For proficiency tests, students are ranked as either Below Basic, Basic, Proficient or Advanced with the latter two categories as an acceptable goal. For the new achievement tests, there are five rankings: Limited, Basic, Proficient, Accelerated and Advanced with the latter three rankings preferred. Data is also disaggregated to give more information regarding program success across all subcategories of children, including those with Learning Disabilities. More information about Ohio’s assessment is available at: (for Third Grade Achievement Tests) and (for Fourth Grade Proficiency Tests).
Illustrating the benefits of changes to reading instruction for Arthur Road students are the data from these test results. In 1997, 70% of the students at Arthur Road were proficient in reading. Similar results were shown for 1998, with 71.1% reading proficiency. In the last two years of data collection from these state tests, many signs of marked growth in student achievement are noticeable in the table below:
School Year / Third Grade Reading Achievement / Fourth Grade Reading Proficiency2002-03 / Not yet implemented /
- 93% of all students passed
- 92% of learning disabled
2003-04 /
- 99% of all 3rd grade passed
- 100% of learning disabled students
- 92% of all students passed
Source: Ohio Department of Education School Report Cards, 1997-2003.
Trends from the past seven years demonstrate that although Arthur Road students were not meeting state goals of 75% passage early on, they are now achieving at very high levels in reading on state assessments and surpassing the state goals by significant margins. Reading Recovery, the 20-week intervention program Arthur Road teachers use to address reading gaps for the lowest achieving first graders, is showing success as well by helping students maintain their gains over time. Specifically, 100% of Reading Recovery students maintained gains and passed the third grade achievement test and 91.6% passed the fourth grade test in 2003-04. These data show remarkable increases in student achievement and reward the efforts and resources of the school’s staff, parents and children.
In mathematics, Arthur Road’s fourth grade students have continually scored above the standard in math proficiency. In the 2002-03 school year, Arthur Road students achieved a passing rate of 88%. Subsequently, Arthur Road fourth grade student scores improved during the 2003-04 school year, with 97% of students achieving a passing score. In analyzing the results, staff attribute these improved results to greater classroom focus on the benchmarks and indicators, which provided a stronger balance between content and process. The proficiency results were further evaluated to determine strengths and weaknesses. For example, fourth graders show strengths in knowledge and skill (93%), conceptual understanding (92%), number relations (92%) and geometry (92%), but demonstrate relative weaknesses in problem-solving (80%) and estimation (83%). This information helps to guide classroom instruction and improve on student learning in target areas.
With the provision of diagnostic mathematics tests for students in kindergarten through second grade last year, staff was able to more completely evaluate how Arthur Road’s primary students were progressing toward meeting state indicators in mathematics. The collated results of the diagnostic assessments showed that among kindergarten students 92% are reaching on-track status. In grade one, 88% of students achieved on-track status and finally, 97% second graders demonstrated they were on track. Children identified as not meeting the designated on-track status were targeted early in their next school year for special attention to close their achievement gaps.
2.How Arthur Road Elementary School uses assessment data to understand and improve student and school performance.
Arthur Road School uses a variety of formative and summative assessment data daily to drive instruction and improve student and school performance. Before the school year begins, teachers utilize the district’s student information system to access summative data about individual student’s performance in reading, writing, spelling, math, science and social studies. Additionally, standardized test data, such as achievement or proficiency data, is shared with teachers. Teachers also engage in weekly grade level meetings at the beginning of the year that are focused on analyzing student data and determining a grade level SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Oriented, Time-Bound) goal for the coming school year.
Within the first month of a new school year, teachers utilize diagnostic tools to assess all children in the areas of reading, writing and spelling to determine the best placement for students within differentiated learning groups. Daily, teachers are involved in providing specific, immediate feedback to students in all content areas (assessment “for” learning) to ensure understanding and to improve academic performance. For example, in the Trailblazers math program, assessments “for” learning are embedded throughout each unit. This allows the teacher to intervene or accelerate students as needed throughout the unit, rather than waiting until the end of the unit for intervention or acceleration. Weekly, teachers continue the grade level team meetings initiated at the beginning of the year with a refined focus, discussing students who are having difficulty in the classroom. Teachers bring current data to the meeting to assist in determining the student’s strengths and weaknesses. These meetings provide a collaborative framework through which staff can identify effective solutions for students who may need interventions of some kind to bolster their mastery of academic content.